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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Man Pleads No Contest to Setting Ex-Fiancee on Fire; Unruly Passenger Dragged Off Delta Flight; Dippolito Jury Says They Can`t Reach Verdict; Uber Accused of Tracking Celebs and Politicians; Footbrawl Breaks Out in Bleachers; Arrests in Alabama Mannequin Challenge; Thieves Stealing From Apple Stores. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired December 13, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[20:00:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST (voice-over): A beauty pageant winner is doused with gas and set on fire and still in critical condition a
year-and-a-half later.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) he didn`t apologize.
BANFIELD: So what happened to the boyfriend who did it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You really do seem like one of those people that have no soul.
BANFIELD: Turbulence on the ground, a passenger is dragged right down the center aisle of a packed airplane. And lest you feel sorry for her, wait
until you hear what she did before boarding and what she demanded once on the plane.
An Oscar-worthy performance, and something jurors are probably chewing on right now as they decide the fate of Dalia Dippolito.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re going to jail.
DALIA DIPPOLITO, CHARGED WITH HIRING A HITMAN: I didn`t do anything! Please, I didn`t do anything!
BANFIELD: Trapped by the cops in a video sting after they say she hired a hitman to kill her husband.
DIPPOLITO: Nobody`s going to be able to point a finger.
BANFIELD: And as a parting message to jurors, her lawyer reveals she`s got a secret baby boy.
Tap the app, get a ride. But how private are your movements when you call an Uber? The company denies that some of their workers have tracked
celebrity trips and helped stalkers find their exes.
And somebody throw a flag. Chiefs/Raiders fans get crazy in the nosebleeds. What made them rush each other? And how did this mash (ph)
end?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
Some crimes are so heinous, there isn`t enough justice in the world to satisfy a jury, a judge, prosecutors and certainly not a victim. And I`m
about to tell you one of those stories because the bad man in this story will walk amongst us all in the not too distant future. And when you hear
what he did, you might just feel victimized, too.
This is Michael Slager. And a year-and-a-half ago, he came looking for Judy Malinowski, his girlfriend, a beauty queen, pageant winner. And when
he found her, he decided to douse her with gasoline and set her on fire. This happened at a gas station in Columbus, Ohio.
Again, it happened a year-and-a-half ago. And every day since, Judy has been in critical condition in the hospital, hanging on for life and
suffering through 51 surgeries, suffering through excruciating pain.
Before the attack, Slager had harassed her. He had abused her both verbally and physically. So she did what you would expect. She got a
restraining order. And then she had to go into hiding, too. But he tapped (ph) a GPS device on her car and he found her anyway.
Knowing all of this, why did this man only get 11 years behind bars? Why? And if you think, well, you know, because, then I need to show you what
happened to Judy. And if you are squeamish, you need look away and you need to look away now. And if you have children, you need on ask them to
leave the room.
It`s important that you see Judy because like Judy`s mom, we can only pray this never happens again to anyone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BONNIE BOWES, VICTIM`S MOTHER: There`ll be another victim. There`ll be another victim unless something changes with him. I know that`s why Judy
has fought so hard, was to tell the story, to show the world how bad it really is. I believe she truly thought she could help him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Slager pleaded no contest to charges of felonious assault, aggravated arson and possession of criminal tools. He still denies
intentionally setting Judy on fire, and in fact, he wrote it in a letter that he sent to a CNN affiliate, WCMH. I want to read a little bit of it
just so you know where his head is.
"The reason for this letter is because I want my side of the story told. My life was changed forever after this terrible tragedy accident that
resulted from me trying to light Judy Malinowski`s cigarette." Again, she was doused in gasoline.
Before I go on, there is a reason we wanted to bring you this story tonight. This show is called PRIMETIME JUSTICE, and not one of the members
of my staff, nor me, and I believe all of you, is going to believe there is any justice in the story that you`re going to see in a moment.
[20:05:14]I need to give you a very graphic warning, a very, very graphic warning. The pictures that you just saw are nothing compared to the
picture I`m abut to show you because the way Judy Malinowski ended up -- and again, she`s still in that hospital bed. She`s been there a year-and-
a-half. And the picture you`re going to see right now is her just last month. This is after trying to recover for almost a year-and-a-half.
That`s Judy, the beauty queen, after a year-and-a-half. She lost her ears. She lost a hand. She was burned over 90 percent of her body. That`s her
arm. I know it`s hard to make it out. But this is just last week.
So you can imagine, as she gets ready for her 52nd surgery on Thursday, that things haven`t been going well. And just so you can really see the
crime that was committed, there`s Judy in both of the iterations of Judy`s life.
Did I mention that Slager got 11 years? There was no charge of attempted murder here -- 11 years. And it`s a state charge, do, you know, could be
out good behavior, and he could be walking amongst you and me, a man who did that.
You saw her briefly earlier on, just a couple minutes ago, Bonnie Bowes. She`s Judy`s mom and she joins me live now. She`s on the phone because
she`s in Judy`s hospital room in Columbus, Ohio, where she has been every day for the last year-and-a-half.
Bonnie, can you hear me?
BOWES (via telephone): I can hear you.
BANFIELD: Thank you so much for talking to us.
BOWES: You`re welcome. Thank you for having us.
BANFIELD: I just -- you know, some stories are really confounding to me, and yours is one of them, your family, what you`ve gone through, what your
beautiful daughter has had to suffer through every single day. Can I just ask you, how is Judy right now? Are you with her at this moment?
BOWES: I am. I`m standing at her bedside with her and her father now.
BANFIELD: What is her level of pain every day?
BOWES: You know, I`ll sum it up in Judy`s words. Her level of pain is a pain that no human being, no living creature should ever endure. We`re not
able to keep her pain to any level of control because of the high amount of pain medicine that it takes, that it would require to bring those burns
under control. It would compromise her respiratory tract and lead to ultimately her death at that moment. So we`re trying to balance pain
medicine versus, you know, comfort.
BANFIELD: Versus survival, as well.
BOWES: Oh, yes. Absolutely.
BANFIELD: Am I correct, Bonnie, in these facts, that Judy was burned over 90 percent of her body and all of those burns were third and fourth degree?
BOWES: Yes, you are correct. That is correct in saying she had a small area on her calf that we continued to grow skin and do grafting on her body
as best we could over this long period of time.
BANFIELD: How did she survive this?
BOWES: Well, I mean, she`s still fighting to survive. She`s in -- I guess that she`s in OSU Wexner Medical Center now. She`s still fighting to
survive. She`s going to undergo another surgery on Thursday to see if we can do a third attempt to do some critical grafting on the back side of her
and her shoulders.
BANFIELD: I know that you have done interviews. You have kept this story alive from the time that she was so viciously attacked because it is a
critical story of justice. It`s a critical story of domestic abuse. There isn`t a domestic abuse charge. I mean, aggravated arson -- aggravated
arson, that`s what happens at a bar. I mean, felonious assault -- that`s what happens with a broken beer bottle. And I know that you want changes.
And I know Judy does, as well.
If I can for a moment, Bonnie -- if I can just play something that your daughter has said. And I -- she can`t speak, and I know you speak for her.
So she`ll be mouthing the words in the next bite that I`m going to run for our audience, but I want our audience to know from her perspective how she
feels (INAUDIBLE)
"I never knew that a human being could be so evil."
Bonnie, for all intents, you are her lifeline to the outside world. You interpret for her when she mouths those words. She remembers this attack.
She remembers the details of this attack, doesn`t she?
[20:10:12]BOWES: She absolutely does. She remembers right up until she lost consciousness on the ground. There is a point that she described in
her statement, was she remembered being engulfed, seeing the flames engulfed around her, screaming for help. She said he had an evil look in
his eye and didn`t help her at that moment. And then she woke up approximately seven months -- I would say about seven months later, she
woke up in the intensive care unit where we are now.
BANFIELD: Seven months later. You have said in the past -- and I know this is sort of heart-breaking to mention, and it`s more heart-breaking for
you to consider -- that you are worried that Judy will give up.
BOWES: I think Judy has fought really -- (INAUDIBLE) God blessed us with this time where we`ve had some really magical moments during some really
dark, dark times. And I think Judy has fought desperately to tell her story in court, to be able to articulate to the judge just what it is this
person was like, and to take it a step further so other people know her story from domestic violence.
(INAUDIBLE) Judy put it to me, if there is verbal abuse, there (INAUDIBLE) domestic violence to follow and she said, Mom, they have to run. Domestic
violence and fire to a human body is just beyond imaginable. But I really believe she has fought this hard to testify and to get her story out.
And she isn`t going to do that, testify, but we`re certainly trying get the story out and work to see if we can get justice to change a law. Ten years
is just no time at all.
BANFIELD: Do you know, Bonnie...
BOWES: And she got a life sentence.
BANFIELD: She did. I mean, without question. You all did. Her two children got a life sentence, two little girls, ages 11 and 8. Do they
ever see their mom?
BOWES: They have been to see their mom, and they have suited up. You know, it`s a sterile environment. We certainly are cautious on their
visits because of germs, bacteria, et cetera. And I think, just to echo what you said, her two little girls have gotten a life sentence, as well.
Over 18 months, they haven`t had a mom for birthdays or Christmas or -- you know, they got a life sentence, too, at a young, young age.
BANFIELD: Has that animal who did this ever seen pictures of the condition that Judy is in currently?
BOWES: I can`t speak for sure if he has. I know he`s seen -- the attorney has showed him articles. I can tell you this. I know he knows she was
engulfed in flames. I know that he has never apologized in the courtroom. His attorney didn`t apologize. He didn`t apologize. What can you say,
that he said he was going to kill her? And she shared that with multiple law enforcement agencies, and this is where she`s at.
BANFIELD: Well, if we can help to get your story out, then perhaps just shred of some justice in this story. And to that end, former prosecutor
David Schwartz is with me right now. Defense attorney and CNN analyst Joey Jackson with me, as well.
You heard me say off the top of the show, why no attempted murder?
DAVID SCHWARTZ, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes. I mean, this is a prosecutorial decision right here, and I just don`t get it, for the life of me. I`ve
never seen a case like this where someone will just take a plea to 11 years -- 11 years. And look, the judge maxed him out on the charges that were in
front of her. But why no attempted murder? Why no higher degree arson?
BANFIELD: You know what?
SCHWARTZ: It makes no sense.
BANFIELD: Yes, the judge even said that -- you know, and I`ll paraphrase, that he has no soul. But yet, Joey, as I, you know, researched this with
you, 2 to 10 for the aggravated arson and 3 to 11 for the felonious assault. So if I did my math right, these sentences were levied
concurrently. Why not consecutively?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: They should have been, and taking a step back to talk about the distinction between attempted murder and what he`s
facing.
[20:15:00]Now, distinction number one, look at the sentence. Attempted murder for what he did carries a life sentence, the same sentence that the
children, the beautiful children that you referred to, age 11 and 8, of this mom, who`s also a cancer survivor -- they have to endure a life
sentence of not having a mother. For whatever reason, regarding this plea deal, it was to these charges, as opposed to something that could have been
(INAUDIBLE)
Secondly -- and you raised the point, Ashleigh, OK, in the event, for example, you go with aggravated arson, as they did, felonious assault, as
they did, the fact is, is that they should be consecutive. That is the 10 years and the 11 years.
BANFIELD: So 21 minimum for this guy.
SCHWARTZ: But Ashleigh, it`s a plea deal, so the power is in the hands of the prosecutor...
BANFIELD: Right.
SCHWARTZ: ... not the judge.
BANFIELD: But why make a deal?
BANFIELD: Why make a deal.
(CROSSTALK)
JACKSON: If you take a max...
BOWES: She would have testified. She would have testified through the translation of her mother because she no longer has vocal chords.
SCHWARTZ: This is a 30-year case.
BANFIELD: She can`t speak.
SCHWARTZ: It`s a 30-year case.
BANFIELD: At least, or life. Honestly. Thank you both. And Bonnie, thank you, as well, and please, you know, give Judy our best. Tell her
that she`s got a voice out here, without question. She has a voice.
BOWES: Thank you for sharing her story.
BANFIELD: Thank you for helping us share it, Bonnie Bowes joining us.
I`m going to take you on another tack because I know a lot of you have been on airplanes before, and it is not a comfortable experience, at the best of
times. It can also be a very frustrating experience. It can also be an odd and maybe even dangerous experience.
So this was one of them. This is how one passenger had to be removed from an airplane in Detroit. And by the way, this is her choice. She`s not
injured. She`s refusing to leave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, she was out in front.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, everybody watch out. She`s coming through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:21:00]BANFIELD: Tempers are short these days when it comes to air travel. You know it and I know it. And this is the Christmas season, so
it`s only going to get worse. But a Detroit to San Diego Delta flight was just a bit more intense than usual because a passenger decided to storm
past the agent at the gate and right onto the plane and then start demanding overhead bin space, pretty disruptive stuff.
In the end, this is how it looked. Yes, no way, exactly. She had to be dragged off, a cabin full of passengers all watching, kind of stunned
silence. You can hear a few, Oh, my Gods, but I think most people were kind of embarrassed, slightly amused, weirded out. I think all of the
above. But it was kind of a quiet, unusual extraction. 464, here we come.
Erin Vermeulen is an anchor and reporter at WWJ news radio 950 in Detroit. Is there more to this? It just seems very strange, Erin, the way she just
got -- she just refused to leave. Is there more to this?
ERIN VERMEULEN, WWJ (via telephone: That`s what we`re wondering, too, and we`re not getting a lot of answers right now. We actually put out a call
to the prosecutor and the airline. They`ve released a statement, of course. But if you watch the video, when she`s being carried by, she
almost looks unresponsive at one point, and her eyes look closed.
And in one part of the video, you hear a passenger on the plane say, Was she tased? Which leads me to believe that, you know, we don`t really know
exactly everything that happened because the video only starts when they`re carrying her off of the plane.
BANFIELD: But we do know this, Erin, and that is that she was not leaving of her own volition and she was aggressive. She didn`t show ID or a ticket
when she stormed onto the jetway and onto the plane?
VERMEULEN: That`s what witnesses are saying. Now, the airport police wouldn`t confirm that, nor Delta. But the only statement they released was
that sentence -- She was not compliant when officers came on the plane and asked her to leave. That`s the only thing we can confirm at this point.
Now, witnesses described her as mouthy. They said she had a huge attitude. They also said that she was actually tackled and brought to the ground by
police...
BANFIELD: Wow.
VERMEULEN: ... after she blew by the gate agent without checking in.
BANFIELD: Well, we can tell you this, no charges yet, which is sort of strange, given all the things we`ve seen on airplanes and how they result
in charges. Apparently, she is in violation, we`re told, of airport ordinances. We`re not exactly sure what that`s going to end up as in terms
of action.
I just want to show you something that happened a couple weeks ago that you probably saw on the news. And it was a passenger just after the election
who was obviously a Donald Trump supporter screaming lots of nasty things at people he said were Hillary Clinton supporters on the flight. Take a
look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can`t hear me! Don`t talk, baby! That`s right, this man knows what`s up! We got some Hillary (EXPLETIVE DELETED) on here!
Come on, baby! Trump! That`s what I`m talking about. Hey, baby. Donald Trump is your president, every (EXPLETIVE DELETED) one of you. If you
don`t like it, too bad!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Well, you know what? Delta didn`t like it. They didn`t take him off the flight and they had to apologize. They did apologize to all of
those passengers. They refunded the ticket money for every one of those passengers. Then they did this. They banned that man for life. He can no
longer fly on Delta for the rest of his life for that.
So it`ll be interesting to see what happens with Erin -- with -- rather with the woman Erin was reporting on. We don`t have her name because she`s
not charged.
So David and Joe, I was always led to believe it`s serious when you mess around at airports or mess around on planes. Usually, it`s a federal
offense. Why isn`t (INAUDIBLE)
SCHWARTZ: Yes, I -- well, there should be a charge. I mean, there should be a zero tolerance policy to go flying past the gate attendant and to not
show your ticket, to have that type of attitude. It can`t be -- I mean, even Joey is on his best behavior when he`s on planes.
(LAUGHTER)
[20:25:10]SCHWARTZ: I mean, you know, this -- this attitude cannot be tolerated.
BANFIELD: No!
SCHWARTZ: And she should have been tackled and brought to the ground. It`s a security issue.
JACKSON: Well, here`s the bottom line. She`s not charged yet.
BANFIELD: Yes.
JACKSON: It doesn`t mean that she`s not going to be charged. And what you see there was passive resistance. There`s a number of ways, Ashleigh, to
resist the police. One is to fight them, and another is to passively resist and have them carry you off the plane. Yes, she was disruptive.
And the larger issue for me is not even running past security, demanding space.
BANFIELD: Really?
JACKSON: But what is she going to do during the flight that may subject other passengers to danger when you can`t call the police to get on the
plane and get her off?
(CROSSTALK)
SCHWARTZ: That`s what happened with that other video also with the Trump supporter, you know, and...
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: ... take him off.
SCHWARTZ: And it didn`t matter that he was a Trump supporter. He disrupted the flight.
BANFIELD: OK.
SCHWARTZ: He disrupted the flight.
JACKSON: Maybe she`ll get banned for life, too.
BANFIELD: We`ll see. Well, we`ll watch and see, but it was just odd. The whole thing was just odd to watch and strangely silent.
So this other video that you`ve been seeing a lot of in the case that we`ve been following is not silent at all. It`s Dalia Dippolito. She`s the one
who was accused of hiring a hitman who was posing as a police officer (sic), the one she was hiring to kill her husband, allegedly. And now her
fate is in the hands of yet another jury.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIPPOLITO: There`s no changing. No, there`s no -- like, I`m determined already. I`m positive, like, 5,000 percent sure. Like, I was stressing
when you told me you were going to come up here, and then I`m, like, looking at the time and I`m like, What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED). He`s not
coming He`s not this.
[20:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Dalia Dippolito, she`s a Palm Beach, Florida woman who allegedly hired a cop unknowingly, because he was posing as a hit man, to kill her
husband. And now in her retrial, she is facing 30 years behind bars if she`s convicted. And the case went to the jury this morning. Prosecutors
say her own words are what incriminated her.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to make sure that, you know, this is what you want. All right? You`re sure you want to kill this dude?
DALIA DIPPOLITO, ACCUSED OF PAYING A POLICE POSING AS A HIT MAN TO KILL HUSBAND: Do we really have to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
DIPPOLITO: You know it`s just -- I`d rather be as less, you know, whatever with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So the defense has an argument here. They say that the police were not looking for justice here. That the police instead were looking for
some good dramatic TV.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN CLAYPOOL, ATTORNEY FOR DALIA DIPPOLITO: This case is 100 percent on the egregious misconduct of the Boynton Beach Police Department. And how
they used Dalia Dippolito as a pawn to generate good reality TV.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Jason Brodie is Michael Dippolito`s divorce attorney. Michael would be that husband that might have been dead if that hit man were real,
allegedly. He joins me live now from Boynton Beach. Thanks so much for being with me, Jason.
So there was this weird thing that happened just before the jury went off to deliberate. It was like a bombshell. People have been following this
case. And most people, if not I would say all people, had no idea that Dalia had a little baby. Did you know about that? Was this a surprise to
you? Was this a surprise to her former husband?
JASON BRODIE, MICHAEL DIPPOLITO`S DIVORCE ATTORNEY: Thank you for having me again, Ashleigh, I appreciate it. To answer your question, there were
reports back, I believe back in April, that she had a baby. There was social media talk about it so it was widely speculated and we believe these
reports back then to be true and they were obviously confirmed for everybody today. And closing arguments, all be it, not during the case but
in closing arguments, not to separate a mother from her child.
BANFIELD: Was that upsetting to your client? To Michael?
BRODIE: Michael wants to move on from this whole thing. This is a seven- year nightmare for him. Enough is enough. She got tried and convicted the first time. Unfortunately, right now we`re going through what appears to be
a possibility of a hung jury and dragging this on longer and longer and longer and a third trial could possibly be on the horizon.
I am sure at this point there is a lot of second-guessing going on about what could have been done, what should have been done. Monday night, Monday
morning quarterback, you would say. It is in the fate of the jury now. It`s up to them. And they`re pretty deadlocked. And hopefully tomorrow that they
can come back and get to the point where they find her guilty.
BANFIELD: So Jason just mentioned this. This mention from the jury a note came out earlier today saying we are kind of hopelessly not able to come to
a unanimous decision on this. The judge said sleep on it. That`s the nice way of saying go home, get some rest, come back, give it another go.
And there will be something called a dynamite charge. Really officially called an Allen charge where he officially tells them they have to go back
in and deliberate. Stand by for a second, Jason, if you would.
Guys, I want to bring you back into this conversation, David and Joey are still with me. I was really surprised. This is round two for the state in
trying to convict Dalia on this. But they only had two witnesses. And Michael didn`t take stand. Is this a -- would there be regret from --
second-guessing later on is always, you know, a famous parlor game.
JACKSON: Yeah. Well, the answer depends upon what happens in the case, right? What the jury ultimately does? Do they convict or not convict? I
think the defense certainly had a very effective strategy and that strategy was as follows.
When you arrest people, you do it because there are just reasons behind it. You don`t stage a scene. You don`t have it taped by cops. You don`t
otherwise, you know, get all of the production people out there and then you use it for purposes of reality TV. I think that`s very effective.
[20:35:00] BANFIELD: I get you. I get you. But you know what? I go to say, it might have been a production. It might have been a show. But she is on
tape saying these things, right?
SCHWARTZ: She is technically on tape. But when the jury hears about domestic violence and domestic abuse, and then this person goes to the
police to say I`ve been abused by my boyfriend, you know. Then police turn around and set her up with this, there is something wrong with that. And
the defense`s arguments resonate with that jury that it could be an abuse of power.
BANFIELD: I mean, they were saying a lot. The defense was also saying a lot about, you know, omission of video.
JACKSON: That video right there.
BANFIELD: . and let me sum it up, wrap up.
JACKSON: Wrap the issue.
BANFIELD: The defense in a nutshell said, look, you`re seeing a lot of video and it is you ugly but you`re not seeing all of it like the time she
was trying to back out. There is no evidence of that. But they`re also saying, well, we have some claims that there were other conversations.
JACKSON: But the fact is there could have been and should have been evidence but it mysteriously doesn`t exist.
SCHWARTZ: We can see the whole video, that`s we are talking about.
BANFIELD: We are gonna lock it, guys. We are on this. You know, we`ve been every day waiting to find out round two. Could there be a round three for
Dalia Dippolito? Stay tuned.
A lawsuit against Uber, says that employees of that company have been keeping tabs on some of their riders and not in a way that maybe those
riders would appreciate.
[20:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: When it comes to your Uber ride, are staffers at Uber virtually going along for the ride? At Uber, it was reportedly called the God View.
And it was said to let Uber employees get location of every car along with its passengers at any given moment. New York Magazine says that whole God
View has been renamed the Heaven View.
It comes from an age discrimination lawsuit by Samuel Spangenberg. He`s a former forensic investigator for Uber and he said he raised concerns about
security and got canned. He alleges that the company`s employees have checked out the location of celebrities as well as ex-boyfriends, ex-
girlfriends, spouses. Stuff that if true, would make those people very, very uncomfortable.
Joining me again, David Schwartz and Joey Jackson. So guys, real quickly. One of the things that the complainant has said in his lawsuit is that
Uber`s lack of security regarding its customer data was resulting in Uber employees being able to track high profile politicians and celebrities, and
even personal acquaintances of Uber employees including ex-boyfriends, girlfriends and ex-spouses.
He also said that Uber routinely deleted files which were subject to litigation. That`s pretty scary stuff. If you think about it. The safety of
us riders.
SCHWARTZ: Yeah, but this doesn`t surprise me. Uber violates laws all over this country. They violate the rights of passengers. There are safety
issues of passengers all over the place. The fact that they would engage in this behavior -- in this behavior of tracking people and using their
information against them, it is unconscionable.
JACKSON: However.
BANFIELD: Full disclosure.
SCHWARTZ: Yeah.
BANFIELD: You do have litigation.
SCHWARTZ: I do.
BANFIELD: You have done in the past. We do need to let everybody know that you have done that.
JACKSON: Remember that a complaint is an allegation. I will say this, okay, so we cannot assume that those facts are true.
BANFIELD: Absolutely.
JACKSON: I will stay technology is a blessing and a curse. For my part, I think Uber does a very effective job in certainly getting around any place
I need to get around. I am however concerned about the information, what they do with the information, and of course what could potentially happen
to people.
Ashleigh, you talked about what? Ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends and spouses? You know, look, we talked about the story where someone is lit on
fire. People out there. What is going to be the civil liability.
BANFIELD: It`s scary.
JACKSON: . of Uber if this is information gets to the wrong hands?
SCHWARTZ: They need to be regulated. They need to be regulated like every other transportation.
BANFIELD: So I just want to make sure everyone knows that Uber has had a public response to this lawsuit and it says, the defendant generally denies
each and every allegation contained in the Plaintiff`s Complaint. Generally denies. So I think there is more to this as we get through it.
But I want to bring in Ari Zoldan who is the CEO of Quantum Networks and Technology. He is a technology expert. So Ari, one of the reasons I want to
ask you to join this conversation is because this is a suit against Uber.
But as I started to think about the number of people I have led into my digital life, I get this push notification saying you`re one minute away
from your favorite latte, Ashleigh. Oh, by the way, did you know this product is on sale at this drug store and you`re just around the corner.
Those companies all have employees, too.
ARI ZOLDAN, TECHNOLOGY ANALYST: They`ll have data, Ashleigh. You are correct. Guys, I do understand your concern from a legal perspective. But
you did say technology is both a curse and a blessing. It is 99.9 percent though a blessing. I`m a big advocate of the tech community.
JACKSON: I would completely disagree.
ZOLDAN: Oh, come on.
JACKSON: I completely disagree.
(CROSSTALK)
JACKSON:. it certainly can be used for purposes which are untoward illegal.
(CROSSTALK)
ZOLDAN: That`s the 1 percent where, yeah, you have issues. You have people at Uber, you have Uber employees that are spying on data but that`s not the
culture.
BANFIELD: Well, that`s an allegation.
ZOLDAN: That`s an allegation. And that`s not the culture of the tech community in general. You know, again.
SCHWARTZ: The culture of Uber though.
ZOLDAN: It`s not -- it is not the culture of Uber.
BANFIELD: Again, it`s an allegation.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHWARTZ: I would never use Uber. But I know people that used Uber.
BANFIELD: Have you used it?
SCHWARTZ: There are lawsuits all over this country. This company has disregarded the laws of the country.
ZOLDAN: They`re doing so much good. There is always gonna be issues but they`re doing good.
(CROSSTALK)
[20:45:00] BANFIELD: No one can hear when two people are talking at once. There is only one line out. But I do want to ask this, Ari, as a consumer
of lots of things.
ZOLDAN: Yes.
BANFIELD: . and lots of aps.
ZOLDAN: Yes.
BANFIELD: . and I just sort of assume a lot of times that if I`m engaging with a company, especially if it is a big name company that I recognize,
I`m safe from people tracking my movements and maybe I shouldn`t be. Should I be doing things differently? Should I be turning apps often? If I do, is
that enough?
ZOLDAN: So you should be aware. There is no question. I think, you know, every time you go online, the moment that you`re connected on to the
internet, this is a level of exposure. Whether you`re on Facebook or you`re checking in, you know, to Linkedln or to Instagram, wherever you are,
there`s a moment of exposure.
You have to be comfortable with it. It is certainly is a buyer viewer situation because data is being collected on a second by second movement.
And people are collecting that data. So you do have to be aware of that.
BANFIELD: I have to leave it there, guys. Very spirited, may I say, thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
JACKSON: I love it. That was great.
BANFIELD: Respectfully disagree. So these three adorable guests of mine are very unlike the football fans that I am about to show you. And listen. I
get it. Football fans are often very passionate, very excited about their team.
But, this was a disagreement beyond the pale. It got as physical as the play did on the field. I would actually dare say they got a heck of a lot
more physical than what they were doing on the field. Take a look.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
(inaudible)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: I like football. I watch it every so often. But I don`t usually see people like this. Take a peek.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s get out of here man. I`m not trying to get trampled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t talk (beep)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Okay, just kind of how it just kept going and going. It was an all out million fans. I like to call them The Nosebleeds. But these guys
were bearing 22-degree weather for the Chiefs/Raiders game at home in Kansas City. And I guess someone was talking smack about someone. And you
know how it can be when smack is talked.
So what I can`t understand is what security is doing. Help me someone -- man who watch aggressive male sports. Can someone explain why no one is
getting arrested or cuffed?
DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I`ll jump in. When I go to Wimbledon or a polo match, I can relate to this kind of thing. But, you know, the
reality is sometimes it takes security a while to especially get up the bleachers because they`re going up those steps and you know what? It`s
tiring.
SCHWARTZ: It takes a little time.
JACKSON: There was no security.
BANFIELD: It seem that way.
SCHWARTZ: It`s in Kansas City. Usually people behave.
BANFIELD: So I guess you all want to know, Chiefs won, so there was that. I just can`t believe they braved those temperatures, 22 degrees, and they
were -- had the energy.
JACKSON: Support your team but relax.
CEVALLOS: Do you know where they get their energy? Just a little bit. I just -- I`m suggesting.
BANFIELD: Do you think there might be a little of that courage?
JACKSON: Yeah, I think so, a lot of that.
BANFIELD: Do you know about this mannequin challenge on the inter webs? So the mannequin challenge, everybody freezes and takes pictures and -- so
this is a mannequin challenge that happened.
And I guess some kids thought this was a great idea to stage kind of like a shoot-out kind of gun slinging, not good scene with real people, some of
them underage with real weapons. And I guess what happened was, when that went viral and the police find out, they raided the house. And guess what
they found?
JACKSON: Guns and marijuana.
BANFIELD: Weapons and drugs. So yeah. A couple people got arrested. They are still looking for a few more people in the mannequin challenge. They
decided to show their real weapons. Some of them felons who were not allowed to have them. Here are the weapons that they used.
CEVALLOS: Stupidity keeps us in business.
BANFIELD: Man oh man.
SCHWARTZ: Criminal defense attorney.
JACKSON: Very effective use of social media.
CEVALLOS: Criminals used to walk into the parking lot and talk over their hand even they have a conversation. Now they`re putting their business on
the inter web, as you said. It is a new era for criminal defense.
BANFIELD: Well, anyway, so there`s that. If you recognize any of those faces, call your 911, because they`re still looking for some of those
people who apparently are not supposed to have those weapons. Then there were these other bad apples who decided to take bite out of Apple. It`s bit
of a fun but there were swipe and grabs that started in San Francisco area.
Watch what it looked at and how fast. I mean, like lightning. All of it caught on surveillance. Bang, bang, bang, just take them, take them, go,
go, go, twenty seconds and they made off with thousands and this is just one. Guess what? There have been 11. Are they the same people? That`s next.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: There are some people in San Francisco who really like Apple products. So much so they`re prepared to barge in and just rip off all the
products at the front of the store. Case in point video number one. Watch how fast this group act. In they come. They`re all dressed in hoodies. The
staff doesn`t really even react. It is so fast.
I mean, really not much happens. Even the customers are still at the bar. Well, everything is getting cleaned out. That was November 25th. Same story
on November 29th. Lo and behold, three more guys in hoodies coming through. Modus operandi almost exactly the same. This time, it looks like the staff
is a little bit more wise to it.
But guess what? I just showed you two videos. It happened five times in one week and 11 times in total since October in the San Francisco area,
Burlingame, Berkeley, all these places are getting hit.
JACKSON: I think you`ll see increased security for sure. It`s very unfortunate. And everyone deserves a great Christmas but not like that.
SCHWARTZ: These are attractive stores so it is not surprising that these incidences are happening.
CEVALLOS: It is good see a lot of citizens doing exactly what I would in case of a robbery. Turn around and walk.
BANFIELD: Turn around and walk. Apple gets the last laugh because they got some product. It is called the lost mode and they literally can just shut
off all the functions. So what those guys are walking around with.
JACKSON: Is useless.
BANFIELD: Are bricks.
JACKSON: Wow.
BANFIELD: Bricks. Apple gets the last laugh on this one. And you all get the last laugh too because we`re gonna sign off.
JACKSON: We got the joy of being with you.
BANFIELD: You`re adorable. I love it so much. Thank you. Thank you all very much for watching as well. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. We`ll see you right back
here tomorrow night 8:00 p.m. for PRIMETIME JUSTICE. In the meantime, "FORENSIC FILES" starts right now.
[21:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
